1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to supports and to brackets specially mounted or attached by vacuum, including plural mounted vacuum cups.
2. Background Art
Photographers employ a number of devices to assist them in obtaining clear pictures under a variety of circumstances. The handheld camera may be the most versatile, because the photographer can support the camera to the best of his ability regardless of ambient conditions. For example, a photographer can take pictures from a moving car while merely holding the camera by hand. Under such conditions, distant shots such as landscapes might be satisfactory, while close shots might be unclear.
A rigid tripod is a common stability aid. If a tripod rests against a steady support, the camera will tend to be steady and produce a clear picture. Tripods are not entirely helpful in a moving car because the car is subject to vibrations and bouncing movements, which would be transmitted through the rigid tripod to the camera.
Some cameras even at the advanced consumer level include a stability motor, which helps to keep the picture steady despite the use of a high magnification lens. The stability motor is useful in controlling a degree of hand-held shaking. There are more sophisticated and costly systems to stabilize the picture in a moving camera. Some of these are best suited for professional use supported by a crew, such as in producing a professional motion picture. The advanced consumer photographer or even a large portion of professional photographers are unlikely to own or use an elaborate system due to the cost and preparation needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,193 to Faidley is representative of prior art where a camera mount is somewhat portable but is limited in its versatility by its structures to use in a narrow operational environment. For example, the Faidley camera mount is suited to attach to the inside of a windshield by two suction cups, and an associated brace fits against the windshield to provide a third brace point. Even within the indicated useful environment, it must be noted that cars do not have a standardized windshield configuration. As a result, the configuration of the chosen vehicle may determine whether even such a specialized camera mount will fit.
The stable and versatile camera mount taught in United States Patent Application Publication 2005/0265711 to Heibel addressed the problem of mounting a camera to the varied surface of a vehicle, such as a surface that is curved or somewhat irregular. The Heibel camera mount, which has become known by the trademark Sticky Pod, enabled photographers to take advantage of a moving platform for taking pictures, but without extensively or permanently modifying the car, truck, boat, airplane, or other vehicle. The Sticky Pod mount is mobile, adaptable to a chosen vehicle of almost any description, and can be adapted to support a camera in almost any orientation.
The Sticky Pod camera mount employs a generally planar base plate to carry vacuum cups at broadly separated positions on the bottom face of the base plate. The vacuum cups can anchor the base plate to a carrier vehicle on a surface that ranges in contour from flat to considerable curvature. A camera-mounting stud extends from the top of the base plate to mount a camera. A keeper plate is fastened to a face of the base plate to hold the stud on the base plate by capturing a enlarged head of stud between the keeper plate and base plate. The attachment is extremely rugged, ensuring that the stud can withstand the vibration and speed of a moving vehicle. For example, multiple rivets can be used to secure the keeper plate to the top face of the base plate, reliably sandwiching the stud head against loss. A camera can be mounted directly on the threaded shaft of the stud, and the vacuum cups secure the base plate to a vehicle. Alternatively, elongated extension rods and swivel heads can be interposed between the stud and the camera to remotely position the camera as desired. Flexible tethers connected to the camera can be used to establish three-point stability to reduce camera movement while carrier vehicle is in motion.
Photographers, and especially moviemakers, have used the Sticky Pod in increasingly challenging situations, such as inside moving aircraft—both rotary wing and fixed wing—and on cars, trucks, motor homes, motorcycles, boats, and tanks, even when in motion. It was evident that the Sticky Pod is being used in situations where vastly more technically sophisticated and expensive equipment previously had been required.
It would be desirable to have a camera mount that has increased anchoring ability, such as the ability to be attached on a plurality of surfaces at considerable angles to each other. Perpendicular or other angled surfaces can provide still better camera stability than a mount attached to a more-or-less single surface. Such an improved camera mount could perform under increasingly difficult circumstances and carry a larger and heavier camera.
Similarly, it would be desirable to provide a camera mount with selectively locatable or angled anchoring points, to allow simultaneous anchoring to several different surfaces such as sharply angled surfaces.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the method and apparatus of this invention may comprise the following.